According to Deadline, Andy Serkis (KING KONG) will reprise his voice and motion capture artist tole of Gollum for the 2-part film version of THE HOBBIT.
He joins Martin Freeman (THE HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE) as Bilbo Baggins, along with Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and Elijah Wood — who is apparently to appear as Frodo. This makes sense in the light of the fact that Ian Holm is said to be in talks to return for an appearance as the older Bilbo.
Still working out deals to reprise their LORD OF THE RINGS roles are Ian McKellen (Gandolph), Christopher Lee as Saruman, and possibly Orlando Bloom as the elven prince Legolas.
Perhaps the character appearances are part of the explanation of why it’s necessary to make a two-part film. J.R.R. Tolkien’s story may be too big to play out comfortably in a single film, but not quite long enough to justify two movies without additional scenes.
According to The One Ring , Woods’ role as Frodo can be explained as the character reading of the events in the “Red Book of Westmarch”, which chronicles the events of The Hobbit -Or- There and Back Again, suggesting a framing story.
The article reiterates that THE HOBBIT is being made by Peter Jackson as a c0production between Warner Brothers Pictures and MGM, though due to MGM’s bankruptcy and continuing internal problems, it is being financed by completely by Warner Brothers Pictures, who will have World-wide distribution rights.
Tag: Ian Holm
Luc Besson Planning Sci-Fi Film
According to Coming Soon, Luc Besson (THE FIFTH ELEMENT) plans to revisit the SF genre with a new film.
In an interview with radio station Europe 1, he said he’s designing “creatures” for the project which he describes as “THE FIFTH ELEMENT to the 10th power”.
He hopes to begin the shooting the film in 2012 and 2013, with a 2014 release in mind.
Certainly the semi- farcical FIFTH ELEMENT was cramed full of strange creatures and imaginative designs, very much like a issue of Heavy Metal brought to life. Hopefully, the script for this unnamed feature will be given as much thought as its visual style.